Buck Harvey: Spurs see who they want, and it’s no one

Only seconds were left before Kobe Bryant would lose a fifth game in a row. That’s when, on Sunday, he had a question for Kendrick Perkins of the Thunder.

“He just asked me if we were happy about this win,” Perkins said.

The Spurs should ask Bryant the same, if they go through the motions tonight and lose.

Perkins said he told Bryant, sure, “We’re happy about every win.” Who in the NBA isn’t?

“But you know,” Perkins said, “it’s Kobe being Kobe.”

Just because Manny Ramirez retired doesn’t mean his catchphrase has to be. But Kobe wasn’t just being Kobe. He was being dismissive, and he was being frustrated, and maybe he was being unsure, too.

What comes next?

The Lakers – as well as the Spurs – have to wonder.

Tonight will reveal little between these two teams. Still, meaningless games can impact seeding, and the Hornets played one Monday night. Then, they lost, at home, to lottery-bound Utah, to drop to eighth in the Western Conference.

Think they were tanking to avoid the Lakers and draw the Spurs instead? Some in the Spurs’ front office laugh and say they wouldn’t blame them.

A year ago, remember, Gregg Popovich rested Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili in the regular-season finale against Dallas, when a Spurs win might have changed the seeding. Rick Carlisle wondered if the Spurs were targeting the Mavericks with the move.

“The way it unfolds,”

Carlisle said then, “it looks like they want to play us. They got us.”

The way it unfolded, maybe the Spurs really did want to play the Mavericks.

The smart move, this time, might be to relax and do nothing. No one knows what is looming, especially after three teams in the middle of the bracket dramatically changed their teams in mid-season. Portland, Denver and Oklahoma City appear to be better — and each has a chance to be scary.

Portland is even longer and more flexible after trading for Gerald Wallace. Denver is faster, deeper and more balanced without Carmelo Anthony. And then there’s Oklahoma City.

The Spurs aren’t sure how the arrival of Perkins affects their matchup with the Thunder; there isn’t much of a sample to go on. But, today, OKC looks better than the Mavericks, as George Karl said with typical candor last week, and no one would have even thought that two months ago.

What Oklahoma City did to the Lakers on Sunday was just another signal. Then, the Thunder lost a lead going into the final three minutes before finishing with a 17-2 run.

In another season, Oklahoma City’s win might have been a fluke. The franchise hadn’t won in Staples Center, after all, in more than five years.

But Perkins has changed the possibilities. He sets picks, freeing Kevin Durant, and he plays the low-post defense the team hasn’t had. He also continues to add an edge; Perkins now has seven technical fouls in only 15 games with the Thunder.

The Spurs would worry about OKC in the second round, if the first wasn’t already pressing enough. Memphis has been rugged against the Spurs this season, and New Orleans shouldn’t be overlooked.

Losing David West hurt. But a seemingly minor Hornets trade, acquiring ex-Rocket Carl Landry, filled the hole. Besides, as one in the Spurs organization said, “Do you ever want to play Chris Paul?”

Jackson shows similar concern. When asked whether home-court advantage in the Finals was an issue, he said he had instructed his players to worry only about the West.

Because you might not get to the East?

“That’s for sure,” Jackson said.

So this goes back to Kobe being Kobe on Sunday night, when he had a question for Perkins.